After America by Paul Starobin Narratives for the Next Global Age

Veteran international correspondent Paul Starobin masterfully mixes fresh reportage with rigorous historical analysis to envision a world in which the United States is no longer the domi­nant superpower. Following an insightful study of America's global ascendency, Starobin provides the reasons for America's waning influence and explores five possible paths for the future, each of which is already in the making: A global chaos that could be dark or happy; a multipolar order of nation-states; a global Chinese imperium; an age of global city-states; or a universal civilization leading to world government. Starobin's tone is somber but in the end hopeful-the world after America need not be a disaster for America, and may even be liberating.

Paul Starobin is a staff correspondent for the National Journal and a contributing editor to The Atlantic Monthly. He was Moscow bureau chief for BusinessWeek from 1999 to 2003 and has also written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and National Geographic.

Unrated Critic Reviews for After America

Kirkus Reviews

Relying on interviews with academics, businessmen, military experts and government officials, and reporting from places as diverse as a Chilean copper mine, a Washington think-tank and an Indian seaport, Starobin takes us on a Friedman-esque journey, making a plausible case for each imagined futu...

Tampa Bay Times

Starobin, a writer for the National Journal and Atlantic Monthly, explores in After America: Narratives for the Next Global Age the possibilities for the world after U.S. dominance: chaos, multipolarity, a Chinese century, city-states or universal civilization.

Daily Kos

For the rest of us, After America is a sober, not entirely unoptimistic look at what the world will look like when America's command of world affairs begins to be shared--a shift, the author argues, which has already been underway for quite some time.

Daily Kos

For the rest of us, After America is a sober, not entirely unoptimistic look at what the world will look like when America's command of world affairs begins to be shared--a shift, the author argues, which has already been underway for quite some time.

AARP

Reading journalist Paul Starobin's stimulating inquiry into what the world may look like when the United States ceases to be the dominant power is like sitting down for an evening of conversation with your smartest friend.

OpEdNews

He recognizes so many possible scenarios without advocating any particular one (especially a resurgent U.S. empire as some have) and also sees positive attributes for the U.S. in all scenarios, with a bit of hedging in the "negative" chaos (as opposed to positive chaos you'll have to read it to ...